“What I can say definitively is that we’re keeping the FPI brand,” said Wei, who is also chief executive of Aviva’s global life insurance arm.
“We don’t see any major impact of running the brands in parallel,” he told International Adviser in an exclusive interview.
Aviva completed the agreed takeover for £5.6bn on 10 April, creating a combined group with a potential 34 million clients before any duplications are removed.
Aviva’s asset management business had £246bn assets under administration at the end of last year, and now has the opportunity to add up to approximately £70bn of Friends Life’s UK AUM.
Wei said following the merger the FPI brand would continue “for the foreseeable future”, which he added would likely be until there was overwhelming evidence to warrant a different approach. “I frankly don’t see that happening in the next few years.”
Sweet spot
He said: “FPI’s sweet spot is really around globally mobile professionals and wealthy individuals, who are more sophisticated in their needs and definitely of a higher wealth level.
“These individuals require unique savings and protection solutions in multiple currencies and in multiple jurisdictions.”
